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CU System Briefs (12/20/2013)

HOUSTON (12/20/13)--The last two of 25 convicted robbers were sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in a string of 34 violent robberies in Houston. Two separate groups used similar styles of crime: they specifically targeted banks and credit unions located in grocery stores. The armed robbers would forcibly take over the in-store branches, brandishing weapons and assaulting bystanders and employees, according to court records (Federal Information and News Dispatch Dec. 18). The robberies typically occurred between 9 a.m. and noon on weekdays. Eleven defendants were linked to 16 such robberies between 2007 and 2011, and a second group of 14 men were tied to another 18 incidents, including one that resulted in a six-hour standoff with law enforcement ...

WASHINGTON (12/20/13)--The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has released the winter 2013 issue of Supervisory Insights. The issue features articles of interest to examiners, bankers and supervisors. The topics range from the importance of effective interest-rate risk management, the results of the FDIC's Credit and Consumer Products/Services Survey, and the new Basel III definition of capital. And from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the just-released Semiannual Risk Perspective for fall 2013 details risks facing the banking industry. The report presents data in four areas: the operating environment; condition and performance of the banking system; funding, liquidity, and interest rate risk; and regulatory actions. The OCC says its report focuses on issues that pose threats to the safety and soundness of those financial institutions it regulates and is meant to be a resource to the industry and examiners, as well as public. The report reflects data as of June 30, 2013 ...

WASHINGTON (12/20/13)--The Federal Reserve has adjusted the asset-size thresholds it uses to define small banks, small savings associations, intermediate small banks, and intermediate small savings associations under Community Reinvestment Act regulations. Under the new Fed standards, small banks or small savings associations will mean institutions that have held less than $1.202 billion in assets over the past two years. Intermediate small banks or intermediate small savings associations will mean institutions that have held at least $300 million in assets over the past two years but less than $1.202 billion in assets in either of the last two years. These standards will become effective Jan. 1, according to the Fed. The Fed bases these adjustments on changes to the average of the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners. That index increased by 1.39% between November 2012 and November 2013 ...